To the unfamiliar and uninitiated, Rudy Gobert might have looked beaten. Twenty feet from the basket. A quick move from a quick guard. A 7-footer suddenly facing the wrong direction, as Dallas’ Delon Wright started driving to the hoop.
“I was spinning around,” Gobert admitted later.
But anyone who has watched the Utah Jazz this season, seen Gobert patrol the paint, seen him dance step for step with guards on the perimeter, had to know not to doubt the big man in crunch time. So with 24 seconds left and his team clinging to a 2-point lead, Gobert took three giant strides toward the rim, timed his jump and smacked Wright’s shot off the glass.